A Breath of Fresh Air
by Alana Cartwright
Summary: Almost automatically, Annabeth shot him a glare, but her stomach fluttered in surprise when a muscular arm draped itself over her shoulder. She turned her head to greet him, when her breath caught in her throat.


A Breath of Fresh Air

Their reedy laughter echoed in Annabeth's ears, and she couldn't help but shake her head in annoyance. It's not that their words bothered her… well, not that much. But every once in awhile, she would look around, raise her grey eyes to the ceiling, and groan in frustration about the morons she was surrounded by.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a snobby voice full of a sugary sweetness calling out, "Hey, Annabeth!"

Annabeth took a couple seconds to count to ten backwards before turning around, her scowl replaced with a smile full of the same level of fakeness. There was Lincoln High School's very own Cassidy Jones, the queen of stupid and the ruler of the poor morons that would think to follow her. Her brown, heavily-made-up eyes glinted with a false brightness, her lava-red lips curled up in an icy grin, and she ran a perfectly manicured hand through her straight black hair.

"Hey, Cassidy," Annabeth greeted warily. What does she want now?

"Are you going to the last dance? It's fine if you don't have a date. I've got connections, you know. I can find you a date if you need one. After all, someone has to be willing to go to the dance with you," the she-demon said innocently.

Sometimes Annabeth wished she could just slap those expensive gold rings out of her slimy little fingers, but she only sighed inwardly. You only need to last until after school. Percy will be flying in today, and he'll meet you at the coffee shop, and you have the whole day with him, so don't ruin your own mood.

The blonde tugged absently tugged at her curls at the thought of seeing Percy again. It had been so long since she'd heard his voice in person or called him Seaweed Brain to his face, and her fingers tingled with anticipation.

Perfectly manicured fingers snapped Annabeth out of her daydream about her boyfriend, and her eyes followed the hand all the way up to Cassidy's expectant yet smug face.

"Sorry, Cassidy. I was just thinking about my wonderful boyfriend. He's visiting today, you know. So I'm good, thanks. Besides, Percy knows I don't like school dances. He knows I hate being surrounded by idiots," Annabeth said sweetly.

Cassidy's face curled up into a half-laugh and half-snarl. "Aww, Annie. Making up a fake boyfriend now, are we? I know you're lonely, sweetheart, but you're not going to get a date with that attitude," she said with a smirk in her voice.

"Hey, sweetheart."

Almost automatically, Annabeth shot him a glare, but her stomach fluttered in surprise when a muscular arm draped itself over her shoulder. She turned her head to greet him, when her breath caught in her throat.

Percy's blue-green eyes were inches away, sparkling with mischief, and she was startled by the depth of his irises. He hadn't changed at all in the months that it had been since he'd seen her.

"Who are you?"

They both spun at the sound of the astonished, yet snobby voice. Cassidy's wide eyes were raking Percy's body, catching his pink lips and fluttering down to his strong arms.

Even though he was perfectly composed on the surface, Annabeth could feel the smugness rolling off him in waves. His previous words came back to her in a flash. He'd taken her out on a date to the lake a few days after the battle with Kronos. They'd had a picnic, and he'd talked to her as they ate. I've met a thousand queen bees, Wise Girl, and not one of them have ever come even close to you in comparison. Besides, they're not nearly as fun to mess with. They give up way too easily.

Percy pulled me out of my flashback with a grin, his hand flashing out in an invitation for a handshake. "I'm Percy Jackson, Annabeth's boyfriend. I'm sure you've heard of me," he said with a deceiving air of pleasantry.

Cassidy's surprised face swiftly melted into a coy smile. "You're Annie's boyfriend? She's never talked about you before. I'm Cassidy Jones, a friend of Annabeth's."

He raised his eyebrows at that, and turned to Annabeth, a question in his eyes. She responded with a hard glance in Cassidy's direction, and that was the only answer he'd needed apparently.

"You know, Cassidy, if there's one thing I hate, it's fake people. You weren't lying about being friends with Annabeth, were you? I'd hate to find out that you were just another person jealous of my girlfriend's humongous brain."

Cassidy glowered at the obvious insult, her flirtatious smile replaced with a scowl. She turned around and walked away with a flick of her long hair, the sound of her clicking heels becoming more and more distant. Percy's too innocent face morphed into a grin, and Annabeth smirked into the back of her hand. His arm still hung loosely over her shoulder, and she could feel his torso shake with laughter.

The arm on her shoulder disappeared, leaving it kind of cold. She turned to him, crossing her arms in mock seriousness. "You weren't supposed to come in until later. You could've called to let me know you got here early. What are you doing here, Percy?"

He grinned. He'd missed her snark. "Nice to see you too. By the way, I did text you. Check your phone," he said with a grin.

Annabeth pulled out her cell phone to check and, sure enough, he had texted her about an hour ago, saying that his flight had come in early.

"Well, you should've called, moron. You know my phone's on silent during school," she said, crossing her arms again, like she was scolding a four-year-old.

Percy grinned. "I missed you, Wise Girl," he said earnestly, his aqua eyes glowing with a light of truth and warmth. His arms opened, a clear invitation, and Annabeth needed no other indication. She went into his arms, sighing at the familiarity of his arms around her.

"I missed you too, Seaweed Brain."

Dear readers,

So there it is, my first completed fic. Writer's block is a murderer, I swear. I actually had to drop Let Me Through, even though I had part of the next chapter written up. But anyways, read and review, fellow fanboys and fangirls. Don't be a silent reader.

~Alana


End file.
